Number of games Xander Bogaerts will play this series…No worries, Xander was away at his sister’s wedding.

Ranaudo’s 0.83 ERA is second in the Eastern League.

Rosario’s addition makes it three catchers on the roster

Number of at-bats for Matt Spring in his first start of the season on Saturday…Spring went 1-for-4.

Britton was the Opening Day starter and his making his 5th start of the season

Portland has a triple in six straight games.

THAT WOULD BE A RUBBER GAME: Portland and Trenton play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton, N.J…Last night was Portland’s second shutout of the season – both have been on the road (April 17th at Binghamton)…The Sea Dogs are a ½ game behind the Erie SeaWolves for the best record in the Eastern League…After today’s contest, the two teams don’t meet until June 21-23, a three-game series in Trenton.

Shannon Wilkerson had a 3-run triple on Saturday…Portland leads the league with 10 triples and has one in six straight games. (photo by Sitting Still Photography).

NOW THAT’S PITCHING: Righty Anthony Ranaudo (3-0) tossed six scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and fanning a career-high nine batters, leading the Sea Dogs to a 6-0 win over the Thunder on Saturday night…Ranaudo, who was pitching in his home state, earned his third straight win…Portland scored twice in the second and added three runs in the fourth inning on Shannon Wilkerson’s bases-clearing triple…Derrik Gibson went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two walks…Right-hander Zach Nuding (0-3) took the loss for Trenton, surrendering five runs (four earned) over six innings pitched.

MAYBE THE NAME CHANGE WILL HELP: Arm & Hammer Park, formally known as Waterfront Park in Trenton, has not been kind to Portland…The ‘Dogs have dropped 17 of their last 23 games against the Thunder in New Jersey…Portland won the season series in 2010, taking four of seven.

AND IT CONTINUES: 1B Travis Shaw extended his on-base streak to 20 games, by going 1-for-4 with a double on Saturday…Shaw’s on-base streak is currently the longest in the league, and tied with Altoona’s Andrew Lambo for the longest on-base streak in the Eastern League this season.

ANOTHER ONE?: The Sea Dogs lead the league with 10 triples, but has nine in the last six games…Xander Bogaerts has a triple in three straight games…Heiker Meneses, Tony Thomas and Wilkerson each have two triples on the season.

HIGH FIVE:Portland had a reliever strikeout five batters in consecutive games (Last Wednesday and Friday)…In the series opener, Keith Couch fanned a season-high 5 over 2.1 innings…Ruiz struck out five on Wednesday against Binghamton…Chris Martin has a team-high 14.1 scoreless inning streak to start the season.

WHAT’S ON DECK: Tomorrow, the Sea Dogs open up a four-game series in Reading, PA against the Fightin Phils (Phillies affiliate)…The final two games of the roadtrip begin at 11:35 AM…Portland returns home on Friday, May 3rd, opening up a six-game homestand against the New Britain Rock Cats (Twins affiliate).

The Sea Dogs completed a three-game sweep of the Altoona Curve with last night’s 2-1 win at Hadlock Field…Portland has seven straight wins at home, the most as a Red Sox affiliate, and their longest win streak since April 8-23, 1997.

Longest home winning streaks All-Time at Hadlock Field

12 straight, June 15-July 11, 1996

7 straight, August 2-current

7 straight, April 8-23, 1997

7 straight, April 18-May 6, 1995

Eastern League Records Since the All-Star Break

Lefty Rich Hill is the eighth Major Leaguer to rehab this season with Portland – already a franchise record for a single-season. (photo by Kelly O’Connor)

Portland 22-11 (.667) –

Bowie 23-12 (.657) –

Akron 21-12 (.636) 1.0

Trenton 21-14 (.600) 2.0

Reading 19-16 (.543) 4.0

Richmond 18-16 (.529) 4.5

Binghamton 19-17 (.528) 4.5

New Britain 17-18 (.486) 6.0

Altoona 16-19 (.457) 7.0

New Hampshire 14-21 (.400) 9.0

Erie 10-25 (.286) 12.0

Harrisburg 8-27 (.229) 14.0

Last night Gerrit Cole hit 100 mph numerous times on the Hadlock Field radar gun. Since I’ve been calling games with Portland (2005), I’ve seen Daniel Bard hit a 100 and Erie’s Bruce Rondon (last homestand)…Cole was consistently in the upper 90’s with his fastball, hitting 98 on a majority of his nine strikeouts.

The righty retired the first 14 batters until Xander Bogaerts nailed a double to right field. Here’s what Cole had to say about Bogaerts – “It was 80 mph and I tried to get it in there for a strike, but I ran the risk of letting him get the bat head out on it. A lot of people would roll over it, but he did a good job of going the other way.”

Christian Vazquez makes his Double-A debut tonight…He was hitting .266 with 7 homers and 41 RBI in 81 games with Salem.

Greetings from Hadlock Field! Lineups and Notes below

In case you missed it, I had a chance to chat with newly acquired Steven Wright…The knuckleballer makes his debut in the Red Sox system on Sunday afternoon…Wright was traded by Cleveland to Boston in exchange for INF Lars Anderson (former Sea Dog).

Congrats to Catcher Dan Butler and Pitcher Josh Fields on their promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket…Butler spent some time with Pawtucket last season…Fields pitched with Triple-A Tacoma before he was traded to Boston.

Last season: Named Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year after going 37-of-111 (33.3) in throwing out runners (.991 fielding pct. 9 E/904 TC)…Led Greenville and ranked 4th in the system with 84 RBI…Led the Drive in homers with 18, hitting .283 (111-for-392) in 105 games.

Acquired/Misc: 9th round pick by the Red Sox in the 2008 draft…Graduated from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy High School…Following last season, rated by Baseball America as the best defensive catcher in the South Atlantic League and the Red Sox system.

Oscar Tejeda was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox last night due to the Kevin Youkilis trade.

The Sea Dogs and Thunder complete their four-game series with the Trenton Thunder on Monday night from Waterfront Park…Portland was swept in a doubleheader on Saturday night due to Friday’s rainout, but won yesterday 6-5.

Last night Outfielder Oscar Tejeda was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox to make room on the 40-man roster…Tejeda hit .253 (167-for-659) with 10 homers and 72 RBI in 174 games with Portland.

Roster Move: INF Zach Gentile is active for tonight’s game

High Five to Will Middlebrooks for being named American League Player-of-the-Week…Also to former Sea Dog Anthony Rizzo on his call up to the Chicago Cubs.

Yesterday, the Red Sox signed Right-hander Jason Urquidez from the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League and assigned him to Portland…Urquidez is wearing #29, and will work out of Portland’s ‘pen. The former standout at Arizona State University (teammates with Dustin Pedroia) was teammates with former Sea Dog Beau Vaughan in Lancaster. “We call Beau tweak, because he walks up and down the bullpen the entire game.” said Urquidez (pronounced Ur-key-dez). “Beau is great, he’s lost tons of weight, so his routine is to pace from the bullpen pitcher’s mound to the plate until his name is called.” added Urquidez.

Urquidez and Marquez Smith have both joined from the Independent League the past nine days.

The Sea Dogs ended a 21-game stretch against the Western Division going 10-11, and open up a four-game weekend series against the Trenton Thunder (Yankees affiliate)…Portland plays 30 of their next 33 games against the Thunder and New Hampshire Fisher Cats…With last night’s victory, Portland has won 10 of their last 14 games in Maine, and taken four straight series.

Jackie Bradley Jr. made his Double-A debut last night and went 1-for-4 with a single, walk and a stolen base…Bradley Jr. singled on the first pitch he saw, nailing a 92-mph fastball off Robert Gilliam into to right field.

Portland has dropped 8 of 10 to Trenton this season, but the two teams still have 15 games left in the season series.

Tonight officially starts the second half of the season…Last year, Portland was 25-46 after 71 games.

Trenton’s Cody Johnson won’t be swinging this series…He was placed on the disabled list earlier today.

The Sea Dogs open up a six-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Bowie Baysox (Orioles affiliate) from Hadlock

Dwight Evans was at Fenway Park for the 100th anniversary, and announced the Red Sox Draft Picks on Monday night.

Field..Portland split six games on their recent roadtrip, and are 3-3 during a 21-game stretch against the Western Division…Lefty Drake Britton makes his Double-A debut tonight for Portland…Britton is ranked the #1 left-handed pitching prospect in the Red Sox system according to Baseball America.

Slugger the Sea Dog has advanced to the Sweet 16 in the Mascot Mania contest to be named the Best Mascot in the Minors!!! Slugger has a tough opponent in the third round; Nutzy from Richmond. Get those round 3 votes in and help Slugger advance. Voting ends June 7th. Vote here.

#17 Juan Carlos Linares is second on the team with 13 multi-hit games, but leads with 6 multi-RBI games.

The Sea Dogs conclude their four-game series on Thursday night against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays affiliate) from Northeast Delta Dental Stadium…Portland swept a twinbill from the ‘Cats last night, taking the first game in extra-innings 7-6 and the nightcap 3-2.

Ranaudo is ranked the #1 Pitching Prospect in the Red Sox system according to Baseball America…He makes his Double-A debut on Tuesday night.

The Sea Dogs continue their seven-game roadtrip on Tuesday night against the Reading Phillies from First Energy Stadium…Last night, the Sea Dogs took the opener 2-1, thanks to a run-scoring single by Bryce Brentz in the fourth inning off losing pitcher Jonathan Pettibone…Brentz joins me on the pre-game show beginning at 6:15 PM on the WPEI/US. Cellular Sea Dogs Radio Network…It’s part one of our conversation.

Nuggets on Ranaudo

HOW ACQUIRED: Red Sox 3rd pick (sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds, 39th overall) in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.

QUICK HITS: Top Pitching Prospect in the Red Sox system and #4 prospect overall according to Baseball America…Also ranked with the best curveball in the system.

LAST SEASON: Went 9-6 with a 3.97 ERA (56 ER/127.0 IP) and 117 strikeouts in 26 games between Greenville and Salem in his pro debut…Ranked 6th among Red Sox minor leaguers in strikeouts…Fanned eight in 4.2 innings on April 25th vs. Greensboro…Red Sox Minor League Pitcher for May after going 3-0 with a 3.65 ERA (10 ER/24.2 IP)…Promoted to Salem on May 31 and went 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 22 K’s in 4 starts in August.

CAREER/PERSONAL NOTES: Went 5-2 with a 7.32 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 51.2 innings over 15 games (11 starts) for LSU as a junior in 2010…Pitched for Brewster of the Cape Cod League before signing and did not allow an earned run over 5 starts, going 3-0 with 10 hits allowed and 31 strikeouts in 29.2 IP…Earned the win in the clinching game of the 2009 College World Series…Entered 2010 rated as the draft’s top pitching prospect by Baseball America…Selected by Texas in the 11th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft but did not sign.

Portland has won series victory this season, taking 2 of 3 in New Britain on April 23-25. Today, the ‘Dogs can win their second series of the year. Righty Billy Buckner (0-2, 4.50) makes his second start of the season against New Britain…Righty B.J Hermsen (0-0, 1.29) takes to the hill for the second time in Double-A…Hermsen began the season in High-A Ft. Myers, posting a 1-0, 0.78 ERA in 4 starts.

Lineups for Sunday

Billy Buckner fanned 11 Rock Cats on April 24th at New Britain Stadium…He looks for his first win in the Red Sox system on Sunday.

Here’s a tweet from PawSox broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith…@aaronmgoldsmith “A black SUV just drove on the warning track inside Frontier Field in Rochester and stopped behind home plate. Out walked Andy Pettitte.”

No home cooking for the Red Sox, and no pun intended. Aaron Cook has landed on the DL and Andrew Miller is active.

Great to see Maine native Ryan Flaherty leading off today for Baltimore.

You can listen to Sea Dogs Baseball on the tunein app – link to their website or seadogs.com

After being swept in a three-game series by the Trenton Thunder, the Sea Dogs open up a short, three-game roadtrip in New Britain, CT on Friday night…RHP Chris Martin (1-2, 4.13) faces LHP Logan Darnell (3-0, 4.56) in the series opener…Portland has the second worst record in Minor League Baseball behind the Rome Braves (6-20 in the South Atlantic League – Low A). Matt Spring joins me on the pre-game show, he almost did the “Carlton Fisk” last night.

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